The St. Joseph County Local Coordinating Council (LCC) began as a community committee in 1990.

In 1992, the LCC joined forces with the St. Joseph County Coalition against Drugs (SJCCAD). This combined effort magnified the overall community effort to address issues related to the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs.

About the same time, in early 1993, the Healthy Communities Initiative was a growing volunteer organization in St. Joseph County. Its vision of holistic community health led to the creation of councils designed to broadly address issues of agency collaboration, healthy families, citizen governance, public health and vibrant neighborhoods.

In 1995 plans to pursue a merger between the SJCCAD and HCI began. This merger took place in the summer of 1996 and resulted in the creation of the Drug Free Community Council (DFCC) with the SJCCAD essentially bringing its committee structure and membership into HCI.

The Drug Free Community Council of HCI was designated as the LCC for St. Joseph County and continues to serve in this role today. On May 1, 2012, the DFCC name was changed through a membership vote and became the Partnership for Education and Prevention of Substance Abuse.

In the Spring of 2014, the Healthy Communities Initiative ceased operations. The Partnership became an independent coalition and continued its designation as the LCC for St. Joseph County.

The Partnership is in the process of securing a not for profit status and is currently operating under the direction of the four elected officers and the membership.